50 years later, a story of peace

On January 8, 1956, in the jungles of Ecuador, five missionaries – Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian – were speared to death while seeking contact with the Waodani tribe (then known as Auca, meaning “naked savages”).

News that the men were missing flew around the world, and when the bodies were found and buried at the sandbar where the fateful encounter occurred, LIFE photographer Cornell Capa was there too. The magazine gave the story a 10-page spread.

It was dramatic stuff. It was called martyrdom, and, as martyrdoms do, it compelled us to look closer. It got under our skin.

Who were these men, mostly young, all of them good-looking, men who had been athletes, honour students and orators before setting aside their earthly potential to reach remote people with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Who were these women, their wives, so lovely and brave and accepting? And these enemies, these hostile, unpredictable Stone Age people in their dangerous, exotic environment?

If the story eventually slipped out of sight for the general public, it was kept very much alive in the evangelical Christian world. Elisabeth Elliot, one of the widows and a gifted writer, described the men and mission in Through Gates of Splendor. She went on to write her late husband Jim’s biography, and the story of her return, with Rachel Saint, sister of Nate, to live among the Waodani.

Others wrote books about Nate Saint and about Dayuma, the woman who escaped her tribe but later led the missionary women back to it. There were film and musical theatre accounts.

Told and retold, the 1956 deaths became what Christianity Today has called “a primary narrative” for the “young evangelical movement.” (CT was born the same year.) Hundreds of people were inspired to offer their lives for God’s service.

“It has often come back to motivate me to press on when the going seems tough,” says my friend Miriam Charter, longtime missionary and now associate professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

A shift

Now the story has been told again, in two new films. End of the Spear, a $35 million full-length dramatic production directed by Jim Hanon and produced by Every Tribe Entertainment, opened in theatres in January to coincide with 50th anniversary commemorations. Beyond Gates of Splendor, a documentary made in conjunction with the feature, was released on DVD in 2005.

Steve Saint, son of Nate Saint and nephew of Rachel Saint, the missionary who lived with the Waodani for 37 years, is a key “keeper” of the story now, together with Mincaye, the man who speared his father. End of the Spear is based on their unlikely friendship.

The story’s theme has shifted. It is less about martyrdom, more about peace and reconciliation. The missionaries’ heroism is muted; they are portrayed as more playful than we had imagined.

The bleak endless savagery of the Woadani is put into context, the killings and their aftermath viewed within their world. The perspective is no longer simply American.

A peace story, by its very nature, loses the mystique of the conflict narrative it resolves.

I’m finding, however, as I’ve watched these films, that the new angles of this 50-year-old story are also pulling me in, getting under the skin. Who are these Waodani, and what is it that we need to learn from them about peace with God, each other, the enemy?

In an updated “afterword” to the 25th year edition of Through Gates of Splendor, Elliot reminded us that there was no simple triumphalist arc between the “blood of the martyrs” and evidence of ample spiritual harvest. It had been too complex for that, she suggested, including tensions among and failures by the missionaries.

Still, there is much to ruminate on here. Although not nearly all the Waodani became Christian, the men’s killers did, and the homicide rate (previously at 6 out of 10 adult deaths) fell by 90 percent. It is intriguing that the Waodani were persuaded to let their story be told in End of the Spear only after learning of violence in America like Columbine.

“We acted badly, badly, until they brought us God’s carvings. Now we walk his trail,” said Mincaye.

The question, though, is this: will we listen to the Waodani, explore the multi-faceted peace story springing from five deaths on an Ecuadorian sandbar? Can it become a “primary” narrative for a new generation of evangelicals?

End of the Spear is a beautifully produced dramatic feature, based on a true story of Steve Saint (Chad Allen as the adult Steve), son of a missionary, and impetuous Mincaye (Louie Leonardo, called Mincayani), who speared Steve’s father. In Waodani tradition, Steve should avenge his father’s death. The 1956 deaths are a catalyst for change in both men’s lives. The Waodani grapple with the truth: “Waengongi [the Creator] marked his trail with carvings [Scriptures]. They say we shouldn’t kill.” The movie opened in U.S. theatres Jan. 20, but at the time of writing was not booked for screening in Canada. Those interested in the story behind the movie will enjoy Beyond Gates of Splendor, an excellent documentary, also by Every Tribe Entertainment. It contains interviews with the widows and Waodani, footage of the 1956 events, commentary by an anthropologist and more. Both films are well worth viewing. —dd